Compactor and drive assembly

ABSTRACT

A trash compactor including a housing, a trash receptacle movable into and out of the housing and a hollow ram which is vertically reciprocal into and out of the trash receptacle when the receptacle is positioned fully within the housing. The motor, drive sprockets, chains, etc. are all mounted on the ram structure, with the motor actually positioned within the hollow ram to provide an exceptionally compact construction. The drive assembly drives three, triangularly oriented sprockets which are internally threaded and threadably engage stationary jack screws correspondingly positioned within the housing. Driving the three sprockets, therefore, causes the ram and drive assembly to move upwardly and downwardly on the stationary jack screws.

United States Patent [191 May 22,1973

Engerbretsen [54] COMPACTOR AND DRIVE ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: Einar 0.Engerbretsen, Troy, Ohio [73] Assignee: The Hobart ManufacturingCompany, Troy, Ohio [22] Filed: Nov. 2, 1971 [21] App1.N0.: 194,891

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l00/229 A, 100/290, 100/295 [51] Int. Cl. ..B30b 15/06[58] Field of Search ..100/229 A, 229 R, 100/295, 289, 290

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 319,184 6/1885 Boschert..l00/290 457,225 8/1891 Sheridan ..100/290 1,512,279 10/1924 Diehl...100/290 X 3,208,372 9/1965 Taylor ...100/290 X 3,353,478 11/1967Hopkins ...100/290 X 3,654,855 4/1972 Longo "IOU/229 PrimaryExaminer-Billy J. Wilhite Attorney-Marechal, Biebel, French & Bugg [5 7ABSTRACT A trash compactor including a housing, a trash receptaclemovable into and out of the housing and a hollow rarn which isvertically reciprocal into and out of the trash receptacle when thereceptacle is positioned fully within the housing. The motor, drivesprockets, chains, etc. are all mounted on the ram structure, with themotor actually positioned within the hollow ram to provide anexceptionally compact construction. The drive assembly drives three,triangularly oriented sprockets which are internally threaded andthreadably engage stationary jack screws correspondingly positionedwithin the housing. Driving the three sprockets, therefore, causes theram and drive assembly to move upwardly and downwardly on the stationaryjack screws.

12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ulumll p j pmmmwzmsra. 734,009

sum 1 BF 2 ATTORNEYS P ATENTED MAY 2 2 I573 j SHEET 2 [1F 2 COMPACTORAND DRIVE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One method of combatingthe rapidly increasing solid waste disposal problem precipitated byrising standards of living and an increasing population is compaction ofthe solid waste materials at the point of origin. In addition to fairlylarge scale compaction units intended primarily for commercialoperations such as restaurants, institutions, apartment houses, etc.,smaller compaction units have been designed for home use.

Of these latter compactors some are intended only for use as tin cancrushers. Examples of these are dis closed in US. Pat. No. 3,079,856 and3,352,230. Other home type compactors are intended for more general useand have the capacity to permit an accumulation of solid waste materialsas well as compacting the materials within the unit. Examples of theselatter type of compactors are shown in US. Pat. No. 3,353,478 and3,537,390.

In all of the above units the compactor rams are driven by movable jackscrews with the screws engaging threaded sockets and being driven tocause the rams to move into and out of compacting positions.Additionally, US. Pat. No. 1,576,234 discloses a fruit press in which astationary screw is mounted in a stationary tube for receiving the fruitto be pressed and the press is driven up and down the screw by means ofa spring and limit switch controlled drive system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a compactorwhich includes a solid waste material receptacle movable between acompacting position within the compactor and a non-compacting positionoutside of the compactor. A ram is movable along stationary jack screwspositioned outwardly of the receptacle when the receptacle is in thecompacting position to substantially reduce the volume of wastematerials deposited therein.

The ram carries outwardly projecting mounting brackets, each of whichcarries a spherically shaped seat. Internally threaded sprockets havingexternal, spherically shaped surfaces engaging the seats are positionedtherein and engage the stationary jack screws, so that upon rotation ofthe sprockets the ram moves upwardly and downwardly along the screws andinto and out of the movable trash receptacle. The drive for the ram ismounted within the ram itself and thereby provides an exceptionallycompact construction.

The mating spherical seats and spherically shaped surfaces of theinternally threaded sprockets serve to prevent jamming of the unit as itcompacts solid waste materials. Thus, if an object with high compressionresistance is positioned within the receptacle adjacent one of the jackscrews, as the ram descended there would be a tendency for the sprocketengaging that jack screw to be retarded in its travel, resulting inskewing of the ram and possible binding. However, with the driveassembly of the present invention the internally threaded sprocketsremained aligned with the screw jacks even though there is some skewingof the ram as it descends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a compactorin accordance with the present invention showing the drawer and doorthereof in their open positions and with portions broken away to showthe ram structure;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the door and drawer of thecompactor closed and the ram shown in dotted lines in a partiallydescended position;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the compactor;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the ram and drive assemblytherefor; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view through a portion of a jack screw, aninternally threaded sprocket and the supporting structure therefor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As seen in FIG. 1 of thedrawings the compactor of the present invention comprises a supportingframework, including vertically oriented supporting members l0 andhorizontally extending support members 12 and 14. Additionally, a backwall and a pair of side walls, one of which is shown at 16, are attachedto the supporting framework to form an enclosure. Mounted on theinterior of the enclosure are a pair of stationary slides, one of whichis shown at 18, and which receive movable slides 20. The latter alsoengage slides 22 fixed to either side of a drawer type receptacle 24.

The drawer 24 is provided with side walls 26 having cut out portions 28to facilitate removal of a liner therefrom, a front wall 30 and a handle32 to facilitate sliding the drawer into and out of the compactorenclosure. Additionally, the upper portion of the enclosure is providedwith a small door 34 having a handle 36 and pivotable between the openposition shown in FIG. 1 and the closed position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Positioned within the compactor housing and mounted on the horizontalsupport members 12 and 14 are guide means in the form of three,triangularly disposed jack screws 38 which extend from approximately themid-point of the compactor to the top thereof in parallel relationshipto each other. Thus, a pair of jack screws 38 are positioned at thefront section of the compactor near the corners thereof and a third jackscrew is positioned near the back section of the compactor equallydistant from each of the jack screws of the front pair.

Also positioned within the housing and disposed inwardly of the threejack screws 38 is a hollow ram 40. Ram 40, as best seen in FIG. 4 of thedrawings, includes a hollow main frame 42 having attached to its lowerend by means of the bolt 44 a ram cap 46. Cap 46 may be of moldedconstruction and is provided with main reinforcing ribs 48 and secondaryreinforcing ribs 50.

Fixed to the upper end of the frame 42 by means of bolts or the like isa supporting bracket 52 on the front end of which is mounted a motor 54.Bracket 52 is also provided with an upwardly stepped portion 56 at therear thereof and on the upper surface of the stepped portion 56 asubstantially U-shaped bearing support is provided, rotatably mounting ashaft 60. At its upper end the shaft 60 is provided with a toothedsprocket 62 while at its lower end a pulley 64 is fixed with a timingbelt 66 wrapping the pulley 64 and a second pulley 68 driven by themotor 54. The entire drive assembly, therefore, is received within thehollow ram 40, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, thereby appreciablyreducing the space requirements of the unit.

Projecting outwardly from the upper end of the frame 42 are a pair offront mounting brackets 70 and a rear mounting bracket 72. Receivedwithin each of the mounting brackets are sprockets and bearingassemblies, identical in construction with each other and only one ofwhich will be described for purposes of illustration.

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, each sprocket and bearing assemblyincludes a bearing support 74 upon which is seated a grease retainer cup76. Positioned within each grease retainer cup is a bearing includingspaced upper and lower bearing races 78 and 80 and an intermediateroller bearing 82. Seated on the upper race 78 is a universal 84 havinga spherical surface 86 which supports a sprocket 88 having acorrespondingly shaped lower surface 90 and teeth 92.

Positioned above the sprocket 88 is a washer 94 having a flanged lowerportion 96 received in a recess 98 in the sprocket 88 and radiallyprojecting locking fins 100. Each of the washers 94 projects through anopening 102 formed in front and rear coverplates 104 and 106,respectively, with each of the openings being provided with opposedslots 108 to receive the locking fins of the washers 94. The sprockets88 are internally threaded and, as seen in FIG. 5, engage thecomplementarily threaded jack screws 38. As seen in FIG. 4 of thedrawings, a chain 109, is trained about each of the sprockets 88 and thesprocket 62.

In operation, it will be seen that small articles of waste material maybe placed in the compactor through the door 34 and they will lay on thesloping surface 110 of the drawer 24 until the drawer is moved to theopen position shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. As the drawer is movedoutwardly, articles placed on the surface 110 will fall into the draweror a liner or other container placed therein. Larger articles, ofcourse, may be deposited in the drawer when it is in the position shownin FIG. 1 of the drawings.

Thereafter, the drawer 24 is closed and the motor 54 energized by, forexample, energizing the start button 112 on the control panel 114 asseen in FIG. 3 of the drawings. Additionally, although not shown, itwill be apparent that suitable safety interlocks may also be utilized toprevent actuation of the ram when the drawer 24 is in other than thefully closed position.

Upon actuation of the motor 54 the pulley 68 will drive the belt 66which in turn drives the pulley 64 mounted on the shaft 60. This in turndrives the sprocket 62 which, through the chain 109 drives the threesprockets 88. Rotation of the sprockets 88 in one direction will causethe entire ram assembly to move downwardly into the drawer 24 in themanner shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The downward movement of the ramcan be stopped at any time by depressing the stop button 116 on thecontrol panel 114.

Additionally, suitable reversing means may be provided which will causethe ram to reverse and retract to the FIG. 1 position when apredetermined load is placed on the motor 54 due to the compaction ofwaste material in the compactor. While not specifically shown, suchreversing means may take the form of the reversing relay described inUS. Pat. No. 3,401,892. Therefore, after the waste material within thedrawer 24 has been compacted by some predetermined pressure the loadimposed upon the motor will cause the reversing relay to reverse themotor direction and retract the ram assembly to the position shown inFIG. 1 of the drawings.

As the ram descends in its compacting stroke it may often be the casethat some relatively unyielding object may be positioned adjacent one ofthe jack screws so that as the ram descends there is a tendency for itto become skewed. This in turn would result in a tendency for thesprockets to jam on the jack screws. However, with the spherical seatand matching surface indicated at 86 and in FIG. 5 of the drawings, theram can shift slightly while the sprockets remain aligned on the jackscrews.

From the above it will be apparent that the present invention provides acompactor with a self-contained, ram mounted drive system.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A compactor comprising:

a. a hollow compacting ram,

b. a receptacle having a capacity sufficient to receive said hollow ramtherein,

c. means mounting said ram and said receptacle relative to each otherfor reciprocating movement of said ram into and out of said receptacleto compact material therein,

d. drive means mounted wholly within said hollow ram for causing saidreciprocal movement,

e. said mounting means including:

i. guide means extending between said ram and said receptacle,

ii. means mounted on said ram and engaging said guide means for relativemovement therebetween, and

iii. means for transmitting driving force from said drive means to saidengaging means to cause said reciprocating movement of said ram alongsaid guide means into and out of said receptacle.

2. The compactor of claim 1 wherein:

a. said guide means are fixed with respect to said receptacle, and

b. said engaging means are rotatively mounted on said ram for movementalong said guide means.

3. The compactor of claim 2 wherein:

a. said guide means comprises externally threaded jack screw means, and

b. said engaging means comprises internally threaded sprocket meansmovable along said jack screw means upon rotation of said sprocketmeans.

4. A compactor comprising:

a. a supporting framework having spaced front and a back sections,

b. a pair of jack screws fixed to said front section adjacent oppositeside edges thereof,

0. a third jack screw fixed to said back section at a point equallyspaced from each of the jack screws of said pair,

d. said jack screws extending vertically in parallel spaced relationshipto each other from adjacent the top of said framework to adjacent apoint intermediate the top and bottom thereof,

e. an internally threaded sprocket threadably engaging each of said jackscrews,

f. a vertically reciprocal ram positioned within said framework,

g. mounting brackets fixed to and projecting outwardly of said ramadjacent an upper end thereof,

h. means defining a spherical seat attached to each of said mountingbrackets and rotatably mounting said sprockets with a complementary,spherically shaped surface on each of said sprockets engaging one ofsaid spherical seats,

i. a motor mounted in said ram,

j. means for transmitting drive from said motor to said sprockets, and

k. a drawer slidably received in said framework beneath saidintermediate point thereof.

5. A compactor comprising:

a. a supporting framework,

b. stationary, threaded, jack screw means mounted on said supportingframework in fixed relationship thereto,

c. an open top receptacle movable between a compacting position withinsaid supporting framework and a noncompacting position in which materialcan be removed from said receptacle,

(1. a reciprocating ram positioned within said framework in oppositionto the open top of said receptacle when said receptacle is in saidcompacting position,

e. sprocket means threadably engaging said jack screw means and movableaxially thereof upon rotation of said sprocket means,

f. means rotatably mounting said sprocket means on said ram adjacent theperiphery thereof, and

g. drive means mounted in said ram for rotating said sprocket means anddriving said ram along said jack screw means into and out of saidreceptacle. 6. The compactor of claim 5 further comprising: a. a drivesprocket, b. a drive chain wrapping said drive sprocket and saidsprocket means, and

c. said driving means driving said drive sprocket.

7. The compactor of claim 5 wherein:

a. said jack screw means are positioned outwardly of said receptacle.

8. The compactor of claim 7 wherein:

a. said jack screw means comprises a plurality of jack screws mounted onsaid framework outwardly of said receptacle.

9. The compactor of claim 8 further comprising:

a. a drive sprocket,

b. a drive chain wrapping said drive sprocket and said sprocket means,and

c. said driving means driving said drive sprocket.

10. The compactor of claim 8 wherein said means for mounting saidsprocket means comprises:

a. mounting brackets fixed to said ram adjacent an upper end thereof andprojecting outwardly thereof,

b. means defining spherical seats attached to said bearing supports androtatably mounting said sprocket means with complementary, sphericallyshaped surfaces of said sprocket means engaging said spherical seats.

11. The compactor of claim 10 wherein:

a. said jack screws are disposed in a substantially triangulararrangement.

12. The compactor of claim 11 wherein:

a. said compactor is substantially rectangular in cross section, and

b. two of said mounting brackets are fixed to said ram at a pair ofadjacent corners thereof and a third mounting bracket is fixed to saidram at a point equally distant from said two mounting brackets.

1. A compactor comprising: a. a hollow compacting ram, b. a receptaclehaving a capacity sufficient to receive said hollow ram therein, c.means mounting said ram and said receptacle relative to each other forreciprocating movement of said ram into and out of said receptacle tocompact material therein, d. drive means mounted wholly within saidhollow ram for causing said reciprocal movement, e. said mounting meansincluding: i. guide means extending between said ram and saidreceptacle, ii. means mounted on said ram and engaging said guide meansfor relative movement therebetween, and iii. means for transmittingdriving force from said drive means to said engaging means to cause saidreciprocating movement of said ram along said guide means into and outof said receptacle.
 2. The compactor of claim 1 wherein: a. said guidemeans are fixed with respect to said receptacle, and b. said engagingmeans are rotatively mounted on said ram for movement along said guidemeans.
 3. The compactor of claim 2 wherein: a. said guide meanscomprises externally threaded jack screw means, and b. said engagingmeans comprises internally threaded sprocket means movable along saidjack screw means upon rotation of said sprocket means.
 4. A compactorcomprising: a. a supporting framework having spaced front and a backsections, b. a pair of jack screws fixed to said front section adjacentopposite side edges thereof, c. a third jack screw fixed to said backsection at a point equally spaced from each of the jack screws of saidpair, d. said jack screws extending vertically in parallel spacedrelationship to each other from adjacent the top of said framework toadjacent a point intermediate the top and bottom thereof, e. aninternally threaded sprocket threadably engaging each of said jackscrews, f. a vertically reciprocal ram positioned within said framework,g. mounting brackets fixed to and projecting outwardly of said ramadjacent an upper end thereof, h. means defining a spherical seatattached to each of said mounting brackets and rotatably mounting saidsprockets with a complementary, spherically shaped surface on each ofsaid sprockets engaging one of said spherical seats, i. a motor mountedin said ram, j. means for transmitting drive from said motor to saidsprockets, and k. a drawer slidably received in said framework beneathsaid intermediate point thereof.
 5. A compactor comprising: a. asupporting framework, b. stationary, threaded, jack screw means mountedon said supporting framework in fixed relationship thereto, c. an opentop receptacle movable between a compacting position within saidsupporting framework and a noncompacting position in which material canbe removed from said receptacle, d. a reciprocating ram positionedwithin said framework in opposition to the open top of said receptaclewhen said receptacle is in said compacting position, e. sprocket meansthreadably engaging said jack screw means and movable axially thereofupon rotation of said sprocket means, f. means rotatably mounting saidsprocket means on said ram adjacent the periphery thereof, and g. drivemeans mounted in said ram for rotating said sprocket means and drivingsaid ram along said jack screw means into and out of said receptacle. 6.The compactor of claim 5 further comprising: a. a drive sprocket, b. adrive chain wrapping said drive sprocket and said sprocket means, and c.said driving means driving said drive sprocket.
 7. The compactor ofclaim 5 wherein: a. said jack screw means are positioned outwardly ofsaid receptacle.
 8. The compactor of claim 7 wherein: a. said jack screwmeans comprises a plurality of jack screws mounted on said frameworkoutwardly of said receptacle.
 9. The compactor of claim 8 furthercomprising: a. a drive sprocket, b. a drive chain wrapping said drivesprocket and said sprocket means, and c. said driving means driving saiddrive sprocket.
 10. The compactor of claim 8 wherein said means formounting said sprocket means comprises: a. mounting brackets fixed tosaid ram adjacent an upper end thereof and projecting outwardly thereof,b. means defining spherical seats attached to said bearing supports androtatably mounting said sprocket means with complementary, sphericallyshaped surfaces of said sprocket means engaging said spherical seats.11. The compactor of claim 10 wherein: a. said jack screws are disposedin a substantially triangular arrangement.
 12. The compactor of claim 11wherein: a. said compactor is substantially rectangular in crosssection, and b. two of said mounting brackets are fixed to said ram at apair of adjacent corners thereof and a third mounting bracket is fixedto said ram at a point equally distant from said two mounting brackets.